‘Young’ – Summer Camp

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A recent discussion of good music videos led to me recalling my love for Summer Camp‘s ‘Round the Moon’ video (below) – and, in turn, has led to the happy rediscovery of their debut EP, ‘Young’. There is something kind of exquisite about their incredibly dreamy brand of dazed pop; full of a warming, perfect sense of nostalgia for an era that isn’t even mine – though, in fairness, it’s not their’s either. Music as hazy and fuzzy as the polaroid cameras it references, there is something about it that’s really immersive and easy to get lost in. I love the Brat Pack allusions, the samples from ‘Say Anything’ and ‘Heathers’ and the stories of American house parties of the kind that seem to exist solely in ’80s and ’90s high school movies.

This EP was the beginning of the new wave of boy/girl duos making darling, romantic pop, but ‘Young’ stands out – not least as my favourite example of Summer Camp’s oeuvre.

It’s more than the strange evoking of another time, I think; it’s the reminder that the stories that Summer Camp are telling on their EP – the stories of being young – are sort of timeless. Whether you grew up in the ’80s or you’re going through that weird phase between being a teenager and entering adulthood now, I think there are always going to be the parties with questionable anecdotes; epiphanies about your life and your choices; ill-advised crushes and nights you stay up dancing and talking about nothing at all. And for that, I think ‘Young’ is an EP that encapsulates pretty perfectly what it set out to do. Beautiful.